Obama at the Pyramids: "No evidence aliens actually built this"
That's what the president told the press pool that accompanied him earlier today to the Pyramids of Giza, where he spent more than an hour and a half before leaving Egypt for Germany. Another nugget of wisdom from the president at the base of the first one: "This thing's huge." Per WSJ's Laura Meckler, the print pooler, Obama also teased repoters that they were the only reason he wasn't going to ride a camel, a popular tourist attraction there. "I don't want to give you guys the satisfaction," he said. He'd switched from his suit to khakis, a golf shirt and shades.
Obama's tour guide was famed pyramid expert Zahi Hawass. Four top Obama advisers tagged along. Chief of staff Rahm Emanuel and adviser Valerie Jarrett did take camel rides. So did Obama's body man, Reggie Love.
Here's more directly from the pool report:
"POTUS then climbed down a narrow set of stairs to an underground tomb, where the walls were covered with hieroglyphics. There was not enough room there for writers as well as photos so your pooler was not in the tomb when Obama was down there. But according to the TV pool producer, Obama looked at an etching on the wall of a face with large ears and said, “Hey that looks like me. Look at those ears!” A photograph of the image indicates that the president actually does, in fact, look a lot like him.
"The group proceeded next to a building that houses the Solar Boat, a 43-meter vessel whose original purpose is unknown. According to information supplied by Embassy staff, there is a scholarly debate as to whether this boat and five others found nearby were meant for the deceased king’s transportation in the afterlife or to represent the “solar boat,” used by the sun god, to travel across the sky. Either way, the boat is strikingly long and in excellent shape, having been reassembled by the Egyptians after pieces were found in 1954.
"The touring group then proceeded down a hill to see the looming Sphinx. No word on whether any riddles were posed."
Obama described the Pyramids stop as "awe-inspiring," but concluded, “I guess we’ve got to go back to work.”
He addressed U.S. embassy employees, then was off to Germany.
http://washingtonbureau.typepad.com/washington/2009/06/obama-at-the-pyramids-no-evidence-aliens-actually-built-this.htmlMore info :)